Ahsan Raza Durrani is the New CEO & Acting President of Summit Bank

Ahsan Raza Durrani has been appointed as the Chief Executive officer and Acting President of Summit Bank, said the Bank in a stock filing on Monday.

Raza would replace senior banker Muhammad Zahir Ismail who is going to retire from the office of President and Chief Executive on Tuesday, August 07, after attaining the age of 70 years.

The notification read that “The Board has ratified the appointment of Mr Ahsan Raza Durrani as Acting President and Chief Executive Officer/ Executive Director of the Bank in replace of Muhammad Zahir Ismail. Mr. Durrani’s appointment is subject to necessary regulatory approval.

Sindh Bank merger

The Board of Directors of the Bank has approved and recommended the revision swap in swap ratio from 1:4:17 to 1:8:37 in respect of the proposed amalgamation of the bank with and into Sindh Bank Limited.

Therefore, 1 ordinary share of Sindh Bank Limited is proposed to be issued for every 8.37 ordinary shares of the Bank as a consequence of this proposed amalgamation.

Mr. Ahsan Raza Durrani brings with him 25 years of experience in investment banking and asset management. He has extensive knowledge and experience in negotiating and arranging syndicated and structured Islamic finance based on Murabaha, Ijarah and Mudaraba with focus on accounting, financial modeling, mergers and acquisitions, credit and investment risk analysis, capital structuring and bond markets.

He started his career in 1994 with Faysal Bank Limited as Deputy Financial Controller. In 1997 he was elevated to the role of Head of Financial Institutions and Investment Banking Prior to joining Emirates Global Islamic Bank, he was Chief Executive Officer of Faysal Asset Management Ltd. where he arranged, floated and managed two open ended mutual funds.
Mr. Durrani is a Chartered Accountant and Cost and Management Accountant.

Mr. Mohammad Zahir Esmail was serving as Chief Executive Officer and President of Summit Bank Limited since February 22, 2016 and was serving as its Executive Director as well. Mr. Esmail had over 40 years of banking experience to his credit. He served as Chief Operating Officer of Summit Bank Limited until February 21, 2016.

FIA Investigation

Summit Bank Vice-Chairperson Hussain Lawai, who is also a close aide of PPP Co-Chairperson Asif Ali Zardari, was arrested by the FIA in this case on July 6.

This exercise by the federal body was launched following the directives of Supreme Court, which has taken a suo motu notice of alleged money laundering after a total of 29 ‘fake’ bank accounts were opened in three banks — Summit Bank, Sindh Bank and United Bank Ltd.

Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) informed the top court that the investigation in the matter was initiated on an intelligence tip in 2010.

Out of the 29 accounts identified by FIA, 16 existed at Summit Bank, eight at Sindh Bank and five at UBL, while transactions worth Rs35 billion were recorded among seven people.

Ongoing case in Supreme Court of Pakistan and any ad hoc decisions are not going to impact Summit Bank depositors, said the State bank of Pakistan whereas the status of Summit Bank as a settling bank has been declared as terminated by National Clearing Company of Pakistan (NCCPL) with effect from August 17.